<h4>Chapter 2264: Chapter 2264: Evolution</h4>


    "Is this a dragon?"


    Seeing the small ck head poking out of the emperor’s body, Julius Reed immediately moved closer, carefully staring.


    At the same time, his right hand was ced on his waist, remaining vignt.


    If this creature showed any restless behavior, he would take action immediately.


    "No! In my memory, dragons aren’t like this." Jovany Leopold was also cautiously observing, his fingers continuing to glide over the sword de.


    Once the sound stops, whether this dragon can remain in its current calm state is uncertain.


    If this young dragon goes berserk, no one can predict the damage it might cause.


    "I’ve never seen a real dragon, but on the walls, our ancestors recorded the entire process of a dragon’s growth with great precision, having fought with dragons for a long time."


    "Although there were no colored records then, the writings clearly stated that a golden young dragon is the supreme dragon, hailed as the Dragon King."


    "While the white ones are slightly inferior, the ck ones are almost nonexistent."


    Jovany Leopold’s voice was very low, fearing to startle the dragon within the corpse.


    "ck dragons are said to have existed before but have long been extinct. So, this creature here should not be a dragon."


    As he spoke, the two of them circled the emperor’s corpse, turning continuously.


    Julius Reed’s eyes were fixed on the dragon’s head, not wanting to miss any detail.


    This was a very peculiar creature, with a ck head, tworge nostrils, upright ears, and scarlet eyes.


    No matter how you looked, it had nothing inmon with traditional impressions of dragons.


    However, since a species can differ from its juvenile to adult stage, Julius Reed didn’t rush to dismiss it, instead hoping for some new discovery.


    "You can try and see if this animal possesses any dragon characteristics." He whispered to Jovany Leopold.


    To determine if this thing is truly a dragon, one must see if it shares habits with dragons.


    Julius Reed had never seen a dragon.


    Real dragons had almost gone extinct in his era.


    Jovany Leopold came many years after Julius Reed; although he knew a lot, it all came from looking at murals.


    The rest was just like storytelling now.


    Dragons change, and so do people.


    Could things from thousands of years ago still hold any reference value? That’s a questionable issue itself.


    "I’ll give it a try." Jovany Leopold carefully recalled, trying to remember what dragons liked to eat.


    But as for a young dragon, he didn’t know.


    Only through some stimuli could anything be tentatively judged.


    "Dragons are afraid of water. You know?" Jovany Leopold bent down, slowly guiding the emperor’s corpse towards the river.


    It was less than three hundred meters away, where a rivery.


    Jovany Leopold’s idea was to guide this young dragon into the river.


    Using the dragon’s fear of water as a habit to specte and see if this really was a dragon.


    The small ck animal seemed attracted by sound, its gaze somewhat vacant.


    It merely popped out its head, manipting the emperor’s body, floating little by little toward the riverbank.


    When the emperor’s corpse appeared on the river’s surface, the previously calm young dragon began to act uneasy.


    This anxiety was obvious.


    Previously, it was drawn by the sound, its eyes always fixed on Jovany Leopold.


    But now, as it looked at the water’s surface, its eyes were full of fear.


    "From the current situation, this should be a dragon." Jovany Leopold was delighted but also very apprehensive.


    Because if this truly was a dragon, he would be the only ancient martial artist to have seen a real dragon in thousands of years.


    Everyone only heard about dragons through legends.


    No one had ever seen one with their own eyes.


    And ck dragons were said to have vanished long ago, bing a nonexistent species.


    But simultaneously, he felt concerned.


    Historical murals clearly recorded the years when dragons ravaged everyone’s lives.


    Humans were continuously ughtered, ultimately having to hide in caves.


    If this truly was a dragon, how formidable a young dragon could be, no one knew.


    Even the murals didn’t mention it.


    Because young dragons were protected by older dragons, humans only had the chance to flee for their lives and never saw young dragons.


    Should this young dragon’sbat power be daunting, their lives would be in constant jeopardy.


    "I doubt it."


    Julius Reed didn’t believe in the so-called dragon’s fear of water.


    Such a trait might not necessarily determine if it was a real dragon.


    But if by chance, this was a real dragon, many dragons would emerge like ancient martial artists.


    Plop!


    The emperor’s corpse entered the water.


    The previously excited and worried Jovany Leopold was extremely surprised.


    If it were a dragon, it wouldn’t enter.


    Because a dragon manipting the emperor’s body should allow it to fly in the air.


    Even at the water’s edge, it could still fly away.


    The fact that the emperor’s body submerged meant the young dragon did it intentionally.


    In other words, this creature wasn’t afraid of water at all!


    The so-called fear of water was purely a myth.


    Or perhaps, this thing simply wasn’t a dragon!


    Julius Reed was also surprised, watching Jovany Leopold, he asked: "How credible are those things you said?"


    "Above eighty percent!"


    Jovany Leopold said with certainty: "It doesn’t seem like a myth, nor like some mere stories. First, what I saw were the predecessors’ experiences drawn from countless lives and blood, summarized to letter generations live better."


    "How could such experience summaries have exaggerated or false elements? Any misjudgment is fatal! So, I firmly believe that dragons are afraid of water."


    Jovany Leopold’s eyes were fixed dead set on the water surface.


    Such a decisive attitude began to make Julius Reed somewhat hesitant.


    Dragons, in legends, can summon wind and rain.


    Could they be afraid of water?


    Fear of water means it’s not a dragon?


    But what Jovany Leopold said made sense.


    These were experiences summarized by predecessors, to ensureter generations could survive better.


    If there was an error, it certainly would have been corrected in time.


    "Look!"


    But suddenly!


    The water surface changed.


    The emperor’s corpse inside rapidly sank!


    It was no longer visible.


    This was not a particrly deep water pool, but not shallow either.


    "Watch out!"


    Bang!


    A dull thud!


    The emperor’s corpse shattered!


    A ck, snake-like creature leaped out from within!


    Its body was covered with scales!


    Golden scales!


    Golden scales!


    Identical to the ones on the emperor’s body.


    "Don’t move!" Julius Reed stopped Jovany Leopold, before figuring things out, acting recklessly could easily cost them their lives.


    He bent down to examine the emperor’s corpse, but found only his clothing.


    The dragon scales from the emperor’s body were gone.


    All transferred to this ck, snake-like creature!


    The ck snake disappeared into the water.


    There was no movement at all.


    "Fall back!"


    Julius Reed pulled Jovany Leopold, quickly retreating.


    Boom!


    Sure enough!


    A dull thud!


    The ck snake surprisingly grew wings, flying towards Julius Reed and the others!


    "Get back!" Julius Reed shed with a knife!


    ng!


    The ck wings shed with the de, sparks flying!


    Forcing him to back away!


    It seemed to have sensed how formidable the opponent was; the flying snake hovered a bit, then disappeared.


    In the mountain forest!


    A beggar heard the sound, turned around, and looked at the sky.