I am not the oldest, but I have outlived most of the ancients.

If life has taught me anything, it's that nothing in this world is set in stone – just a short nap and the sea can turn into a tidal flat or jungle, and creatures and vegetation will evolve into completely alien shapes. When I'm unlucky, I'll even be dragged by the land block where I'm staying, floating all the way to God knows what corner of the world.

Over the years, I grew into a behemoth that surprised even me. I coiled my body in the mountains, and after a long time, I even forgot which part belonged to me. At some point, the most warlike of my kind, too, took the initiative to avoid me far away - the sheer size meant a lot of vitality, and I guess I could make them lose the courage to fight just by standing there.

Simply to find something to do for myself, I began to wander around, looking for the weaker ones who had just woken up and were not afraid of me. I take them on a journey north and south, showing off the terroirs of the continent as they wish, or taking the little ones into the next cycle as I wish. Such an act is undoubtedly meaningless for an infinite amount of time, except that I can find no other object to relieve my emptiness and loneliness.

It wasn't until the newborn memories of the last young dragon other than the Ancients were firmly imprinted on me that I gave up on such a game. I began to observe the fragile beings beyond the true dragons, the little things that had been used as a backdrop for the heavens and the earth for my long life.

The length of their lives is not even as long as the unit in which I measure time, and the way in which they spend their lives is ridiculously naïve, and they will die at the slightest change of climate. Occasionally, though, the little beasts can do things that surprise me. I vividly remember how those small, broad-fronted fish struggled to adapt to life on the ground, and even evolved a pair of muscular feet. They are one of the few species I have ever seen that can last for more than a thousand years, but at the cost of completely changing their appearance.

For a while, I could watch the beetles nest in the woods all day long, and when they rise, a wind blows and destroys the fruits of a group's days of labor, and admires them as they struggle to survive. It is only by immersing myself in those small individuals that I can briefly recall the feeling of "being alive", the stupid thoughts of having "purpose" and "hope", and being willing to give all my life force to them.

True dragons don't really die, and they don't really live. If I am willing to put in the effort, I can prescribe the survival and perdition of every race, and I can arrange the continents and seas exactly to my liking. Infinite life allows us to step on every inch of land in heaven and earth, to know every knowledge in heaven and earth, but we also lose the expectation of anything.

Later, even that pastime no longer piqued my interest. I could only sleep and wake up again and again, and being alive became a meaningless accumulation of life force and a time to spend for me. I occasionally envy my fellow human beings who are caught in battle, who can die effortlessly, empty their minds, and reacquaint themselves with the whole world, and I miss that feeling. It's just that the longer I live, the more death becomes an unattainable memory for me.

That's when I gave birth to it.

The true dragon is the only one, and only after the death of a true dragon can a second true dragon be born between heaven and earth, which is a rule that the clan has long been familiar with.

But on that day, I inadvertently touched the apex of the rules.

I don't need to actively ingest it, the sun and rain can give me a steady stream of vitality. My body has grown over the mountains, which is unique even in its kind. Probably even the body of a true dragon could not bear such a huge amount of power, and the excess life force was stripped from my body and turned into an independent entity.

The moment those dark and confused eyes opened in front of my eyes, it was as if I had experienced a long-lost rebirth, and the whole world became new and unpredictable. I looked at it as if I were looking down on my own reflection in a small puddle in the distant sky—a towering back like mine, a tail as flat as mine, a mouth as wide as mine, and a pair of slightly curved fangs that were milky white, and mine had long since turned a dull gray from the wind and sun of the years.

I blew a whirlwind, lifted it gently, and looked at it over and over again in front of my eyes for a long time, until every piece of its scale was deeply imprinted in my memory.

I've seen millions, tens of millions of lives born or die, but none of them have moved me so much.

It's my child, my little treasure.

"Jean Moran, is that my name?" It fell back to the ground in horror, and asked me cautiously, in a childish dragon voice—that was the first thing it had ever said before me.

…………

It took me years to realize that Mo Lan wasn't any ordinary true dragon—it wasn't even the weakest true dragon. Our strength comes not only from the powerful body sent by God, but also from the huge memory accumulated by countless reincarnations of death, but this memory is still well staying in my head, and the current Mo Lan is just an empty shell of a real dragon, and his heart is no different from those low-level beasts.

Over the years, I have learned how to store knowledge, but I have not learned how to give it to others. I frantically watched the low-level beasts, how the puppy dragon taught the children to hunt, and how the elven deer led the children to escape from predators. I tried to teach little Mo Lan how to swim in all kinds of different terrains, how to straighten his back and accept the sun's life force, but the knowledge in my mind was too large and complicated, and no low-level monster could show me how to teach it.

Luckily, I met a human.

Humans are the first race I have ever encountered that value things outside of them more than their own lives. I broke one of its hands, but it used the other to hold the wooden box in its arms tightly. I asked it what it was—human language was no more complicated than that of other dragons—and it told me it was "knowledge."

There is nothing more ridiculous than talking about knowledge in front of a true dragon, in order to let Xiao Mo Lan intuitively recognize the strength of the true dragon clan, I took great pains to take him across most of the continent, so that guy completely realized how ridiculous the so-called "research" of human beings is.

Somehow, for some reason, I didn't either kill it or let it go, like I did with other reptiles, but I left it with me. I mean, even though the little bug's glittering eyes never bothered me, it did have some knack for teaching knowledge.

At the cost of answering one question a day, I let it stay with my child. Human life is too short, I just want to use it for an experiment, if little Mo Lan can really learn anything from that reptile, I can catch more and give it a companion.

…………

"Mo Lan!" One day in the company of human beings, little Mo Lan suddenly shook me from my slumber with unprecedented excitement, and I shared the same name with the miniature version of me, "Come and see!" ”

The boy used the wind to drive a small sand dune and carved an interesting little thing out of the sand. The two crooked fish, one large and one small, condensed from the sand, swirled in the air, clearly me, and it. It's something I've been tired of playing with for a long time, but every bit of little Mo Lan's strength is a supreme joy for me.

"It's beautiful!" This is what the human taught me that praise for children is more important than direct teaching, and I pointed to the smaller of the two sand sculptures with my teeth, "This is you, what's on top of your head?" Horns? ”

"That's sir!" There was a burst of joy from Xiao Mo Lan's thoughts, "This is what it taught me." ”

I secretly said that human beings are in danger of dying in even stronger winds, not to mention that they control the wind and sand, and it is hard to imagine how he used such a body to let my children learn to control the heavens. I tried not to look at the villain standing on top of "Little Mo Lan": "Is this so...... Then tell the gentleman, allow it one more question today. ”

"That's right, Mo Lan." My child suddenly remembered something," Mr. told me that every true dragon has its own 'talent,'" it looked at the sand sculpture that had begun to disintegrate in the air, "Is this my talent?" ”

I was stunned, I didn't expect that the human had already told it such in-depth knowledge. I groaned, and by the way, a gust of wind blew out, re-solidifying the scattered sand, and by the way, erasing the little human on the top of the head of "Little Mo Lan": "This doesn't count, did Mr. tell you that controlling the celestial phenomena is not a manifestation of talent, our talent ...... It's more of a 'concept'. I replied truthfully, this is what the human asked me to do, but I will not refuse anything that is conducive to the growth of little Mo Lan.

"What do you mean by a 'concept'?" It spun on the ground, its belly buried in the sand, one pectoral fin pressed its chin in question.

"I'm going to ask your 'sir,'" I had a headache, "anyway, you're still young, not yet ready to master your talents?" ”

"When am I going to grow up?" At this moment, I clearly felt that Xiao Mo Lan's pleasure turned into deep frustration. The sculpture in the air was unstable, scattered into the yellow sand in the sky, and fell to the ground in a slump, "Sir said, if you don't have 'talent', you can't be considered a complete true dragon - I want to become complete, as powerful as you Mo Lan." ”

"There is a bird in the depths of the sand sea, and its nose turns red when you scare it, do you want to look for it?"

…………

"What did you teach it?" It wasn't until little Mo Lan had already walked away that I blew a whirlwind that lifted the human from the ground.

"It's all what you taught me." The little reptile's eyes sparkled with an annoying light at all times, "I promise as a scribe that I have not taught your children the slightest bit of wrong knowledge. ”

"From now on, don't mention anything related to 'talent' to it, not a word!" It's been a long time since I've been angry, but I can't restrain myself in the face of this tiny human being.

"Is that really good?" The little thing was oblivious to the sandstorm I had set off, and a pair of eyes just stared straight at my forehead - the human field of vision was too narrow to even make eye contact with me at this distance, "Keep it a secret from your child." ”

"As long as you exist for a day, it will never be able to gain the full abilities of a true dragon, and it will never be able to truly grow. Even if you try your best, you can only do not lose to the weakest dragon family, and you will be protected under your wing forever. ”

"I don't have wings or feathers!" I corrected.

"That's what you're hoping for, right?" The guy concluded, "What's the point of asking me to teach it if that's the case?" It already has the strongest umbrella, and it just needs to be as carefree as it is now for the rest of its life. ”

"I didn't think so!" I panicked and denied it again and again. It's just that I haven't thought about what little Mo Lan will be cultivated to be.

"Human beings have a specific word to describe the same behavior as you do today."

"What?" I asked subconsciously.

"Selfish."

…………

"Today only, I can answer all your questions, but on the other hand, I have to ask you one question as well." My heart is as calm as water, but it is not the kind of peace that has not been born and died for a long time, but a kind of "expectation" and "hope" that only low-level monsters have born out of thin air, and "if you can't answer, you can embrace your so-called 'truth'." ”

"You can ask first." As soon as the human bowed, his empty left sleeve fluttered in the wind.

"I've lived long enough and just want a way to die."

Without my manipulation, the air suddenly became dull, and the human stood under my jaw for a long time, and finally said slowly, "Is it finally decided?" ”

I bowed my head slightly.

"To be honest, I already know enough about you and the rules of the real dragon." The scribe took a slight step back and bowed deeply, "To the east of this sea of sand, near the direction of the grasslands and woodlands, there is a huge rock, which Xiao Mo Lan once went to see with me, and under that rock there is abundant groundwater. ”

"What does this have to do with my problem?"

Without my manipulation, the air suddenly became dull, and the human stood under my jaw for a long time, and finally said slowly, "Is it finally decided?" ”

I bowed my head slightly.

"To be honest, I already know enough about you and the rules of the real dragon." The scribe took a slight step back and bowed deeply, "To the east of this sea of sand, near the direction of the grasslands and woodlands, there is a huge rock, which Xiao Mo Lan once went to see with me, and under that rock there is abundant groundwater. ”

"What does this have to do with my problem?"